


chivalry fell on its sword

by lanyon



Category: Spider-Woman (Comic), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 07:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2340647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanyon/pseuds/lanyon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharon Carter gets to know Jessica Drew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	chivalry fell on its sword

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haipollai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haipollai/gifts).



> Belated happy birthday for my dearest **haipollai**. An attempt to fit Jessica into the MCU we know and love and another 1k word story.  
>  Title from Hozier 'cause all the cool kids are doing it.

“Are you really CIA?”

“Are _you_?” 

.

“Deputy Director Hill—”

“Don’t let Stark hear you call me that. He insists on referring to me as Miss Hill. Misogynistic shit.” 

“Would you rather him call you Mrs Fury?” 

“Why are you calling, Agent Thirteen?”

“Just Special Agent Carter now, ma’am.” Sharon picks at a loose thread on the arm of her couch. “Do you know a Jessica Drew? She’s CIA but everything in her file is redacted and then redacted some more.”

Hill sucks in a breath. That’s interesting.

“Ma’am?”

“Have you heard of Abigail Brand?” Hill says the name with disdain. No love lost, then.

“No, ma’am.”

“Do you know anything about SWORD?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then I think I’ve told you quite enough.”

Sharon can hear the smile in Hill’s voice. Sometimes, she’s worse than Fury. 

“Thank you for your time. Give Nick my love.”

Hill snorts. Sharon knows that she’s being given a freebie and the last line which means, of course, she must tread carefully.

.

Objectively, Jessica Drew is beautiful: clear skin, huge brown eyes and lustrous, long black hair. She does not look remotely comfortable in office clothes and Sharon wonders what SWORD is and how their field suits measure up to those of SHIELD.  


Sometimes, Sharon misses her SHIELD field suit. It was never a white flag.

.

Nicholas Fury and Maria Hill. Hand, Coulson and the Calvary. Romanov and Barton. Rogers and Barnes. Rumlow. Ward. 

Eleven. That’s only eleven. 

Eleven agents whose test scores were higher than hers.

.

Her superiors at Langley must know that she serves another master but they all speak as though SHIELD is defunct and abandoned.

People thought that Camp Lehigh was defunct and abandoned, too. 

.

Jessica is sitting on her own in the canteen. It’s not unusual; she’s not a people person. Sharon has heard that much about her. 

Sharon grips her tray a little tighter, the edges digging into her fingers. She walks between the tables to where Jessica is sitting.

“This seat free?”

Jessica shrugs. She’s watching Sharon, though, unblinkingly and unnervingly. 

Sharon sits down.

“What do you know about SWORD?” she asks. 

Jessica does not flinch. “Sharp weapon, went out of style.” Her voice is low and amused. 

“Hey,” says Sharon, mildly. “I know a guy who insists that archery still counts as modern warfare.”

“Funny,” says Jessica. “I knew a guy like that too. What do you know about SHIELD?”

“Captain America’s weapon of choice,” says Sharon, piercing her juice carton with its accompanying straw. “He’s so dreamy.”

“Right?” Jessica nods and she’s smiling slightly. 

“You know him?”

“By reputation only,” says Jessica. “You?” 

“I was in DC when shit went down,” says Sharon, as nonchalantly as she can. 

“Seems like a lot of shit went down. Literally, figuratively, spiritually.” Jessica folds her paper napkin and dabs the corner of her mouth with it before setting it down on her tray, almost primly. “Agent Thirteen. They told me you were asking questions.”

“Agent—”

“Eight,” says Jessica. “Formerly. Formerly HYDRA, come to that.”

Sharon’s hand automatically flies to the gun holstered at her hip. 

“ _Formerly_ , Thirteen, _Jesus Christ_. I got out.” Jessica’s eyes are even wider. “Are you always this trigger-happy?”

“Always,” says Sharon, shortly, more disappointed than she should be. It’s always the quiet ones. “You got out?”

“Well,” says Jessica, her smile growing. “I got dragged out by my hair.”

“When?” asks Sharon. 

“Battle of New York. Aliens were not what I signed up for and HYDRA was getting a bit evangelical for my tastes.” 

“You were HYDRA,” says Sharon, flatly.

“Why? Is that a deal-breaker?” Jessica’s voice is soft now and strangely compelling. “It was never my first choice.”

“No?” asks Sharon. “Do you blame the parents?”

“I had to get away from them,” says Jessica, flatly. “And only HYDRA offered a place for Daddy’s Little Science Experiment.” 

“So,” says Sharon, troubled still. “What’s SWORD?”

“Goes with SHIELD. Sort of.”

.

It’s only later that Sharon wonders if that was a come-on. Sort of.

.

“You never told me that she was SHIELD, ma’am.”

“I didn’t know if your ego could take it.”

“Ha,” says Sharon. “She was HYDRA, so—”

“ _Was_ is the operative word. I’m no fan of Abigail Brand but she doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”

“It’s going around, ma’am.”

.

Sharon doesn’t even think before she sits down opposite Jessica in the canteen. 

“So,” she says. “How many people in here do you think are non-CIA CIA operatives?” 

The corner of Jessica’s mouth slides up into lopsided smile. “Excluding you and excluding me? Conservative estimate is at least two HYDRA agents, a handful of Feebs, a couple of DSS guys, probably another SHIELD agent—”

“Does anyone actually work for the CIA?”

“I think the lunch lady does.”

Sharon grins and her eyes meet Jessica’s eyes and she feels something like vertigo, swooping through her whole body. She grips the table edge, for dear life and more. 

.

“I think I like someone.”

“Go get her, cous.”

It’s possible that her cousin is the only person Sharon trusts in SHIELD, up to and including Captain America, who’s pretty squirrelly these days, and that’s because Aunt Peggy would likely still kick both their asses if they didn’t look out for each other. 

.

It turns out that Jessica’s field suit is even more eye-catching than Sharon’s. They both run up Lexington, keeping pace, until Jessica indulges in something that looks like extreme parkour, and would put Spider-Man to shame. 

“What’s happening?” asks Sharon, when she catches up, a block from Stark Tower. She thinks maybe Jessica slowed down.

“A yellow and blue spaceship just crashed into the penthouse of Stark’s place,” says Jessica, beaming ear to ear, like this is what she lives for. (It probably is.)

“Is anyone hurt?” 

“Apparently Stark got punched for coming on to a green lady-alien.”

“Of course he did. Meet you at the top?”

Jessica swoops in quickly and kisses Sharon, unexpected and delightful, tasting like poison's envy.

“Race you, Agent Thirteen.”

Sharon gives chase.


End file.
